The Toilet Paper Lesson

The old saying that "confession is good for the soul" has a lot of merit, and is generally coupled with the concept of sin.  But I've know a few atheists and agnostics with no avowed concept of sin, who must have felt the need for both confession and forgiveness at times.  Although I believe that confession is a good thing, I don't believe it renders its fullest benefit unless coupled with forgiveness. 

 

No doubt, we all do things for which we are sorry and it is often an open confession of such that frees one to become a better person and gives them peace of mind.  As I reflected on this line of thought this week it prompted me to remember a boyhood experience that taught me a painless lesson.

 

I was probably about ten or eleven years old and it was on a summer Sunday morning, between Sunday School ending and church beginning. During that fifteen minute interlude, four of my friends and I decided to play a short game of hide & seek.  Three boys would find a place to hide and the fourth would seek out the others.  One of our favorite places to hide was a seldom used hallway on the third floor behind the choir loft and baptistery.  There were restrooms on each end of the hallway which were available for public use and also used as "changing rooms" when we had a baptismal service.  Most folks didn't want to climb the stairs to use those restrooms, so they were generally free of any people on Sunday mornings.   On this day, we decided we’d hide out in the men’s restrooms on the 3^rd floor.

 

Now in the 1950's churches were not yet air conditioned.  During the summer, the large louvered windows of the sanctuary would be cranked open to allow the breeze from outside to cool down the congregation.  I remember one summer it was so hot that some of the men in the choir bought some big blocks of ice from the local ice plant, put them in the baptistery, and placed some fans on the baptistery steps to blow the cooler air into the choir loft. On this Sunday, not only were the windows in the sanctuary open, but the church custodian, made sure that all restroom windows were opened several inches for ventilation. He also made sure that there was always a spare roll of toilet paper sitting on the window sill of each restroom. 

 

Well, as the three of us boys were in hiding, we jockeyed for position to take a look out the 3rd floor window for the other guy we were hiding from.  During this elbowing and pushing around for position, someone in the group bumped the roll of toilet tissue sitting on the window sill and you know what happened.  It toppled over and rolled right out the window, spinning as it fell and unrolling a 30 foot white tail of toilet tissue, hitting the ground, bouncing and rolling kicking off more and more tissue until it came to a stop.

 

Unfortunately, the area where it landed was the area frequented by a large group of men who had just exited the men's Baracca Sunday School Class.  This was a gathering spot for adult men as they socialized after Sunday School and took a final "smoke or chew" before church.  One of my friend's dad looked up as the toilet tissue spread its Sunday morning banner across this open courtyard. He caught a clear glimpse of three boy's heads peering out the window.   If you think Superman is fast, Mr. Samples bounded up three flights of stairs and had us captured before we could get out of the restroom door.

Now I  don't think hiding in the restroom on Sunday morning is a sin, nor is accidentally knocking a roll of toilet tissue out the window is going to send you to Hell; but no doubt about it, we knew we were in “big trouble.”  There was no need for a "confession" in this case, we were caught "in the act" and we knew we probably had some severe consequences coming, especially from our parents. 

 

But here is the good part, you know what; Mr. Samples just talked to us for a few minutes, pointing out what we should and should not have been doing that Sunday morning; had us go outside and pick up the paper in the courtyard, and said he’d not hold it against us and just keep it to himself if we’d try to do better in the future.  Man, were we ever relieved. 

 

Do you know how good it feels to know you’ve done something wrong or inappropriate and someone still forgives you for it?  I just wish it always worked that way, but it doesn't.  What complicates life sometimes is when you become at odds with someone and you can't figure out what it is that has caused the conflict.  I've had that happen a time or two in my three score and ten and it makes life uncomfortable.  Sometimes I think it's be better to just get "called out" like we did by Mr. Samples and the roll of toilet tissue.  Confession and forgiveness almost come as a package deal in those situations.  I guess sometimes we humans assume somebody knows something when they actually don't.  Personal pride kicks in for one or both parties and prevents us from communicating; confession and forgiveness never get accomplished.

 

Whether you look at this dynamic from a theological perspective or as a moralist, absent the "theos" part, confession and forgiveness seem to be pivotal to good relationships and good mental health in this life and eternal life when we leave the planet.  Looking back, I wish I'd been able to do both things a little better along my journey.

 

Dear Father, help me to remember the words of the apostle John,  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9) and the Psalmist who reminds us that once forgiven, he removes our transgressions “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”   AMEN

Now as we ramble, find someone to forgive and remember that "confession is good for the soul."